Part 6 (1/2)

Her eyes grehen it registered that I was for real Even when I let go of her collar she remained in my face

”Go, now, and handle that,” I told her and, as if hypnotized, she slowly rose to an erect position and strode back toward the door I watched her through half-closed eyes, hoping they wouldn't kill both of us She stopped in their presence and traded words with theesture toward the hallway to the left, turn, and do the sa Whatever it was, it worked, and my assailants ht She, too, left ht, but only for an instant When I saw her round the corner again and co rather quickly

”What did you tell 'e the phone at me she said, ”Don't worry 'bout that, you better call your people, 'cause they co how much time I had before they'd be back, I hastily dialed Li'l Monster's nu once, twice, three ti number On my second attempt I hit pay dirt

”Bro, what's up?” I said quickly into the receiver

”What's up?!” Bro shot back and stammered on, ”Man, we been tearin' shi+t-”

”No, wait, listen They up here!”

”Who?”

”The Sixties, man The Sixties!”

”We on our way!”

The connection was broken I rang for Eloise and she caht away I explained to her the seriousness of inally shot et the police No, we'd handle this ourselves She looked skeptical, but gave est twentyfor Li'l Bro and reinforcements

Finally, I saw Li'l Bro bend the corner, followed by Li'l Spike, Joker, Li'l Crazy De, Stone, China, Bairls They surroundedelse was visible but thean toThey had mostly hand weapons, a few buck knives, and Li'l Spike had a sawed-off single-shot Li'l Monster had been out of ca in earnest toward his required second level He displayed all the traits of promise From under his shi+rt he produced a 25 automatic, and China came out with a box of bullets

”This is for you, Bro,” he said, handing hteous” I went on to explain the situation and gave a description of all three Li'l Spike and Joker went in search of them, while the others stayed to talk Bro said that he had come to see me while I was in ICU, but I had no recollection of hi there He said he could not stand to seemoment, and I could see that he was hurt and wanted to communicate his emotions, but neither of us kne to do it So we settled for the unspokenthe other would somehow catch the vibes of sincerity

Crazy De had been in an altercation with some Sixties in the Hall, China told un, and the set was enjoying tree by the media Li'l Spike and Joker returned with Eloise hot on their heels

”No sign of them fools,” Li'l Spike said with frustration ”Besides,” he said, pointing his thuot sweated by hoot sweated But tell him what you was doin' Go on, tell him,” she said loudly

Neither Joker nor Li'l Spike said a thing, so I asked them as up

Joker spoke up first ”Aw, cuz, she bent the corner and caught a writin', in my hospital Uhh-uhh, not here you don't”

”You don't own this Goddamn hospital, woman, who the-”

”Stall her out, Bairl, idely known for her belligerence

”But she-”

”Stall her out,” I repeated, forcefully

”Kody, visitin' tiers at Baht, but let us get three mo' minutes, huh?”

”Yeah, yeah, but nofrom one hard face to another

No one replied She finally gave a san to instruct the crew about my plans once I was released All see well, Li'l Bro and China especially Not to say that there was any less affection from the others, but China and Li'l Monster knew er

Soon thereafter the crew began to leave The set sign was thrown in a salute by each ho she'd be back the following day Bro milled around and waited for the last homie to file out After a minute he looked at ain we both had tears in our eyes I had been touched-wounded-and although it was never verbally co he had to total invincibility Everything I did, he did And noithwounded, he knew that there was soer, ht of this fell heavy on his shoulders and it became incumbent upon him to destroy that person and ”save the world”-our set At fourteen, that's a heavy load

”It's gonna be all right, it's gonna be all right,” is all I could say

To which Bro replied, ”Yeah, 'cause I'ed briefly, as much asback It was times like this that I hatedanswers to certain questions or being able to present norant is, todead

I checked my strap to make sure it was loaded and put it under my pillow If they caainst ment, I dozed off

Ti to visit every day and even brought a radio, although only after I had sworn on the set-which wasto God-not to destroy it like the last one I got no more calls or unexpected visits, and on January 14th I was discharged This was the only time my mother came to the hospital, which didn't bother rown very far apart, so I'd never expected her to coe day because I was still sixteen and she had to sign the release fors were lukewarm We talked little on the way out of the hospital I was rolled out in a wheelchair pushed by Mom Over my knees was a blanket, and underneath it the weapon, rip

In the car we both ht to talk ainst it Little did I know that Mom was under as much strain as I was This is universally true of everyBut usually co been broken with that parent, who the child looks upon as a faain to offset stability In this light, anything proposed by the parent-whether positive or not-is rejected The intruding parent beco is to alter the set's existence For a youth with no other hope in a syste becoion, and life It is in this reality that gang ht Trays” written across e Bush with ”Republican” on his chest or ”Capitalist” on his neck?

Theoff the hook

”Yes, I'et my dick blown off”

”No, I wasn't shot in the head”

The calls went on like this all day When night fell, I hit the streets on Li'l Monster's bike Li'l Tray Ball rode with h the 'hood, stopping here and there to explain blurry details to concerned citizens of the 'hood and a few parents ere looked upon as ”friendlies” When we had circuood portion of the 'hood, we doubled back toward the north It had gotten chilly, and because ofout in such weather My open wounds erous When we reached the house, Mo out on the front lawn accoirls Kesha, Judy Brown, China, Ba Lynn were all there Before I carief-stricken Moht away

”Kody, where you been?”

”Just ridin' in the 'hood, what's up?” I asked in a nonchalant tone

”You are not supposed to be out in such weather with those open wounds You knohat the doctor told you” Her voice was almost a whiot my jacket on,” I retorted

”But honey, you could catch pneuht, but just let me kick it a minute out here,” I said defiantly, not about to be talked down by Mom in front of the homies